If you were to draft every current NFL quarterback ahead of the 2026 NFL season, who would go No. 1? Would it be Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes? Where would Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels land after a disappointing sophomore season that saw him lose 10 games due to injury?
On his “Football 301” podcast, Nate Tice of Yahoo Sports recently held a 2026 NFL quarterback draft alongside Bill Barnwell of ESPN and Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com. The trio took turns making picks, going from No. 1 to No. 18.
So, where was Daniels drafted?
With the No. 12 pick, Barnwell selected Daniels, noting how people have such short memories.
“It was a year ago, and that feels like an eternity ago in the NFL. He led a mediocre offense to the NFC Championship Game, incredible ball placement, to me, in terms of where he wanted to go with the ball,” Barnwell said. “His outs, his throws to the sideline, where they needed to be, over and over and over and over again. He was unblitzable. It felt like he was three steps ahead in blitzes. It’s not exactly, in Kliff Kingsbury’s offense, known for great answers for the blitz. Himself, he ran for nearly 900 yards when the Commanders were not running him on designed runs on early downs, or outside of key situations. They were really good about third and fourth down. OK, we’re gonna run here and there with designed runs. In the playoffs, more aggressive, sure. And he scrambled a ton; he was super efficient as a runner, and then, really good as a passer.”
Then Barnwell transitioned to what everyone is concerned about with Daniels: injuries.
“I do have the injury concerns, like everyone else. I think you saw that last year, if you were someone who was skeptical of Jayden Daniels coming into the NFL because of his size, but I just like, to me, his bad season, relative to Caleb (Williams), is more explainable because he was hurt. And his good season was better than Caleb’s good season, so I have no qualms taking Jayden Daniels here.”
Tice acknowledged that Daniels is getting lost a bit due to last season, but was in his mix for the latter half of his top 10. He said he thought the Commanders did a good job this offseason, after “s——g the bed last offseason,” outside of the Tunsil acquisition, by adding too many older players on short-term deals.
Tice also made a great point about Daniels. The Kingsbury offense helped the transition to the NFL, but he wants to see him with more on his plate because he believes he’s capable of handling it. Tice also made the comparison of Daniels to Joe Burrow in terms of how they operate as passers, not athletically.
One area of improvement Tice would like to see is Daniels look to throw when he’s under pressure. This is an area we’ve covered, too. Instead of only looking to run when under pressure, Daniels should use his mobility to find open receivers downfield, making him even more dangerous.
All fair points. While you could make the argument that Daniels should’ve gone higher, as we often say with rankings, they are subjective. There is one we have an issue with, but before we get to that, here’s the top 18 picks in the mock QB draft.
- 1. Josh Allen, Bills
- 2. Lamar Jackson, Ravens
- 3. Drake Maye, Patriots
- 4. Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs
- 5. Joe Burrow, Bengals
- 6. Matthew Stafford, Rams
- 7. Jordan Love, Packers
- 8. Justin Herbert, Chargers
- 9. Dak Prescott, Cowboys
- 10. Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars
- 11. Brock Purdy, 49ers
- 12. Jayden Daniels, Commanders
- 13. Jared Goff, Lions
- 14. Caleb Williams, Bears
- 15. C.J. Stroud, Texans
- 16. Kyler Murray, Vikings
- 17. Sam Darnold, Seahawks
- 18. Jalen Hurts, Eagles
How is Drake Maye No. 3? Did anyone watch Maye in New England’s four playoff games? Maye completed 58% of his passes for 828 yards, with six touchdowns, four interceptions and seven fumbles, four of which he lost. Does anyone remember what Jayden Daniels did in the playoffs one year before?
It will be interesting to see how this plays out in 2026, specifically, with Daniels playing in a more traditional NFL offense under new offensive coordinator David Blough. If things go the way Washington expects, these types of lists will look much different one year from now.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: Where did Jayden Daniels land in 2026 QB draft?